Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi’s trial on terrorism charges was postponed
one week at the request of his lawyers. It was to have opened today. His attorneys
asked for the delay to demand parliament set up a special court.

The top Sunni politician in Iraq, Hashemi claims the charges
are politically motivated. He has also stated that he fears becoming the victim
of a show trial in Baghdad where the courts are, at the very least, sympathetic
to his political rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

If parliament is able to produce a court sufficiently free
from Maliki’s influence, there is a chance that Hashemi could return from
Turkey to answer the charges. Last December, when it was apparent that he was
Maliki’s main Sunni target, Hashemi fled
to Iraqi Kurdistan before traveling on to Istanbul during a tour of Arab states.
While a guest of the Kurds, Hashemi demanded his trial take place there or in
another neutral
justice system. Hashemi’s lawyers say there is precedent
for a special court trial.

The vice president stands accused in about 150 cases, but today he would have
faced only three charges. Those involve the murders
of two ministry officials and a lawyer. So far, thirteen of Hashemi’s staffers,
of the 78 arrested, were released
for lack of evidence. Three others died in detention. Hashemi insists the three
died while being tortured into giving false confessions. Also, al-Qaeda in Iraq
later claimed
credit for at least one bombing attempt blamed on Hashemi.